Ghosts from the past
by ljubav1986
Summary: Manhattan SVU is puzzled when they are handed a case that matches the profile of a VERY old unsolved serial killer. They've never given up on a case willingly, but when Helen Magnus shows up the day after the body is found, they may have no choice.
1. In Over their Heads

A/N: I've been playing with this idea for awhile, but had no idea if anyone would read an SVU/Sanctuary crossover. I finally decided to write the introductory bit, and if I don't get any interest (hint: reviews!) I will just leave it at this and call it a short one-shot. So please review. Pretty please?

Disclaimer: I own neither Sanctuary nor Law & Order SVU. If I did, there would be a Season Five of Sanctuary and Stabler would still be on SVU. Please don't sue me. I'm broke.

It was the middle of the night, because that was inevitably when the worst of the world came out of hiding. Benson and Stabler ducked the police tape and headed towards the CSU. "What have we got?" Olivia asked, looking at the mangled body laying in the wrong alley in the wrong part of Manhattan.

"No ID on the body, looks to be about 19 or 20. My guess is a working girl that either picked the wrong client or someone picked her. Sliced her to pieces. I've never seen anything like it. There's no apparent evidence that she was raped, but there's so much blood we figured we should call you guys and let you sort it out."

Stabler nodded. "We'll get the body back to the morgue and see what Warner has to say."

_A few hours later:_

"There isn't an apparent cause of death other than the knife lacerations. I can't determine from the wound patterns which occurred before and which after death. She was either alive for all of them until the kill blow, which I find difficult to imagine, or whoever did this worked fast. Either way is a pretty gruesome way to kill, even for what we usually see. There are no signs of fluids or penetration, however, so I'm not sure this is your case."

Olivia took a defensive poise. "She was a prostitute; that makes her a special victim. If we turn this over to homicide, the case file will get shoved in a drawer and forgotten." Stabler shot her a look that said he didn't quite agree, but knew better than to cross her when her mind was made up.

Before they could even decide to find him, Huang strode into the morgue. Everyone looked up, surprised. He looked sheepish. "I heard rumors, and I needed to see for myself. I think I recognize the pattern." Everyone moved aside for Huang to look at the body. He looked puzzled.

"I know the profile."

"That's good…right?" Stabler asked.

"Not really. Prostitute found in an alley sliced to pieces?"

"Yes." Olivia confirmed.

"Sound familiar to either of you?"

"I'm too tired for guessing games. Just tell us." Stabler snapped. Huang took it in stride.

"Jack the Ripper." Olivia and Elliot exchanged a look, realizing he was right and knowing that this could lead nowhere good.

_Meanwhile_…

"Uh, Doc, you might want to check this out." Henry looked up from his computer as Helen Magnus strode into his lab.

"What is it, Henry?"

"The New York Sanctuary forwarded this police report to me. It's from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit."

"What could it be that they couldn't handle themselves? The New York head knows we are swamped right now cleaning up the mess from the Cabal."

"Don't judge until you hear the details. There's art, too, but I don't think you want to see it."

"Spill it, Henry."

"Someone found a body in an alley. Working girl. Someone sliced her to pieces." Helen started.

"Bloody hell."

"I told you you'd want to check this out."


	2. Introductions

**A/N: Sorry for all the hate against lawyers in this chapter. If it makes it any better, I'm really just picking at my own profession. I'm glad people are reading this. Please stick with it and review and give me feedback! I've never written for SVU before, and this is a new genre for me, as well. **

"Jack the Ripper? So, we're looking for a British guy, about 150 years old? Should be easy, where do we start?" Finn quipped.

"I'm serious, the pattern is identical," Huang replied.

"Yeah, and since all the details on the Ripper killings have been kept out of the press since 1888, there's no way this was a Copycat crime."

"I'm not actually suggesting that we are looking for the historical Jack the Ripper. We are probably looking for a Caucasian male, well educated in history, and possibly a lawyer."

"If you're looking for a lawyer by day, criminal by night, I can get you a list of all the defense attorneys in Manhattan." Casey Novak had joined midway through the discussion.

"But seriously, why a lawyer?" Benson asked.

"Well, investigators always suspected that the Ripper was an affluent professional because of the times of day and days of the week he killed. One of the primary suspects, Montague John Druitt, was a lawyer. He killed himself before a case could be built against him. But that isn't why I suspect this killer is a lawyer. See, a lawyer would have the necessary research and criminology skills to detail and replicate the crime. He would be likely to have a good grasp of history, and, no offense Casey, but attorneys do have a poor track record for the addictions and mental illness that could lead to the type of psychotic break necessary to do this."

"No offense taken. You forgot to mention the tendency towards self-righteousness that would lead to this type of target."

"Yes, there is that, too."

The profiling was interrupted by Captain Cragen bursting out of his office. "Benson, Stabler," he summoned.

They went into his office and Cragen shut the door behind them.

"Are we really looking at a Jack the Ripper copycat?" He asked.

"It looks like it, Cap." Stabler answered.

"This is going to be international news if it gets out. So make sure it doesn't. We don't need news crews from Washington to White Chapel beating down our doors while we are trying to solve a murder. Do you have any prints or DNA on a suspect?"

"No prints. Warner is sorting out DNA now; the body was a mess. I have a feeling this guy left the scene clean, though." Benson said.

"No one leaves the scene clean," Stabler reminded her.

* * *

"Is it really him, Doc?"

"I hope not. He swears he gave it up years ago. I don't believe him, but I would think that he has become skilled enough at disposing of his victims to not leave them in plain sight in a New York City alleyway." Henry shuddered at the matter-of-fact way Magnus described her ex-fiance's homicidal mania.

"That's not particularly comforting."

"It wasn't really meant to be. I assume NYPD is launching an investigation of its own?" She watched as Henry typed furiously, hacking deeper into the NYPD database.

"Yup. They are keeping it very hush-hush, but Manhattan SVU is handling the investigation. Detectives…Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler. Let's see what's in their jackets." More typing. He read over their personnel files, Magnus looking over his shoulder. After a few minutes, he whistled. Magnus nodded her head.

"Indeed. For officers of the law they seem to have little regard for it, in all of the best possible ways. Their record for solving crimes is exceptional…"

"But it is because they are damned determined to catch the guy, no matter what it takes."

"This could be complicated. Usually NYPD is pretty easy to handle, but these two may require a more unorthodox approach." Henry glanced at her sharply.

"You mean full disclosure?"

"I don't know about full, but we definitely can't just send an email to One PP and have this case go away. They'll never stand for it."

"You're going to New York." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. As limited as my time may be, this just became priority."

* * *

It had been almost 24 hours and they hadn't found a thing. Not a shred of evidence at the scene or on the body. Nobody on their radar that matched the profile. It was a total dead end. Olivia sat at her desk, elbows propping her head up in her hands as she stared at the pile of Nothing on her desk.

"Go home, Liv." Stabler ordered. She looked up drearily.

"You first." The showdown was classic and routine at this point. "We have to find _something_. I mean, a ghost certainly didn't kill that woman." She was still a Jane Doe, and that bothered Benson more than the absence of leads.

"Are you entirely sure about that?" Both the detectives turned to find a stranger standing in the doorway. She couldn't have been more out of place. She was tall and lean but curvy. She was dressed in solid black: snug black pants tucked into knee-high black leather boots with a leather jacket. She wore her shoulder length dark, curly hair loose. She looked to be in her thirties, and she carried herself with a confidence that suggested that even if she wasn't carrying one or more weapons (which Benson suspected she was) the woman didn't really need them to defend herself. After all of that, her thick British accent almost seemed like an afterthought.

Munch had seen the woman walk in and was staring, as well. "Let me guess, you're MI-6, here to cover up some British conspiracy," he suggested.

"And you must be John Munch," she replied. "I assure you, I am not with MI-6." Munch didn't miss the fact that she did not deny that she was here on a cover-up mission.

"Who are you?" Stabler asked, regaining his senses.

"My name is Helen Magnus, and I believe you need my help."


	3. Meet Helen Magnus

**A/N: Writing this is so much fun! Thank you for the reviews, please keep them coming. Also, I know what you're going to think when you read this chapter, and you're wrong ;-)**

"And what makes you think we need YOUR help, Lara Croft?" Finn shot back at the British woman standing in the SVU squadroom.

Helen Magnus rolled her eyes. She didn't bother telling them exactly WHO the overly sexualized video game character was based on. "You have no idea what you people have stumbled upon, and believe me when I say you are ALL in over your heads."

Olivia stared the woman down. "Okay, maybe we don't know what's going on. Let's find a conference room where we can talk and you can tell us what it is we don't know."

"An interrogation room, you mean?"

"They serve different purposes depending on who we are dealing with." Olivia replied, cautiously. "We will need to confiscate your weapons while you are on police premises, and if you want them back you had better have a permit."

"What makes you think I'm armed?" Helen challenged. She was, of course. She was always armed, doubly so if she knew John might be involved. She also had every intention of handing over her weapons, for now. NYPD may have ethics that were questionable in her world, but she trusted this group to do the right thing, even if it meant breaking the rules.

Olivia sighed. "Hand it over, Ms. Magnus. I don't know who you are or whose rules you live by, but when you walked into our squadroom, you started playing by OUR rules." Helen grinned and reached into her jacked pocket, pulling out her revolver that she's had since the days of the original Ripper cases, and presented it handle first to Benson. The detective looked it over.

"This is an antique. Excellent condition, too. Nice. Now the rest," A semi-auto came out from the small of her back and was also turned over. Helen looked at her expectantly.

"That's it."

"Bullshit. Keep going." Helen pulled the stunner out of her pants leg and handed it over with a smirk. The detectives' eyes widened.

"What the…" Stabler trailed off.

"I told you that you all had no idea what you are getting yourselves into," Helen reminded them.

"I'm guessing you don't have a permit for that," Munch speculated.

"You would probably be right," Helen replied. "I'm also guessing there's no law against it."

"Cute. Is that it?" Helen grinned again, pulling a knife out of her left boot.

"That's truly it," she promised.

Stabler walked up to her. "Don't take it personally if we don't trust you." Helen nodded, and he quickly frisked her. He furrowed his brow and pulled a set of zip tie restraints from her pocket. "What do you DO for a living?" he asked.

"You don't want to know," she answered. The four detectives led the woman to a "conference room." They were all a little bit perplexed by how their instincts told them to trust this woman that showed up out of nowhere armed to the teeth. They all settled around the table.

"So, really, who are you?" Finn asked.

"My name is Helen Magnus," she reminded them.

"Yeah, we got that. What makes you think you can help us?" Finn retorted.

"Well, you are looking for a modern day Jack the Ripper, right?"

"How do you know about that?" Stabler demanded.

"Let me guess. You have the details on lockdown to keep it out of the media. Your system is shockingly easy for anyone remotely talented to hack."

"You hacked into NYPD?" Munch asked, amazed. "I like it. The vigilantes stalking Big Brother. Ironic."

"Munch. Get with the party line. She hacked into OUR case files." Finn reminded his partner.

"Well, technically it wasn't me. It was my head of security."

"You have a head of security. Really. Who. Are. You." Benson insisted.

Helen considered how much information to give them. "I run a private research facility. I explore the fringes of physical science." Munch leaned in, intrigued.

"So, aliens?" Helen laughed.

"Hardly. People spend far too much time looking into outer space. They are missing out on all the wondrous discoveries right in front of them."

"I've seen a lot of strange things on this job, but 'wondrous' isn't the word I would use to describe them." Finn replied.

"You're right; many of the fringes of our world are dangerous, even more so when we don't understand them. Understanding the world around us is one of our greatest defense mechanisms."

"I can't argue with that, but I find a good sidepiece to be useful, too." Stabler countered.

"I can't argue with that, either. Clearly." Helen laughed. She paused, and continued. "I am going to ask a lot from you four. I am going to ask you to trust me when I've given you little reason to. You are going to have more questions than you will receive answers to. You have to know I am on your side. I want justice for this killer's victims as much as you do."

"Victims?" Munch asked. Helen nodded.

"Yes. Victims. The man that I believe you are looking for has killed before, and he will kill again. 'Man' may not be the right word. 'Monster' might be more accurate." Olivia noticed that while the woman's speech never wavered, there was a flash of…something…in her eyes when she described the man as a monster. Regret? Maybe.

"Is he sociopathic?" Munch asked, softly. He too had noticed the woman's eyes change. Helen shook her head.

"No, he has a very clear, if somewhat stilted, moral code. I think the closest thing that you would understand is dissociative identity, but that's not quite right." Actually, it was very accurate. John had two identities in the truest sense; there was the man she had fallen in love with at Oxford all those years ago, and there was the energy creature that had tormented him for over a century.

"I'm not completely convinced D.I.D. is legit. We've seen more cases of people faking it than anything else." Munch explained, thinking back to some of their old cases.

"Yes. Traditional dissociative identity disorder is very rare, and not at all like what they show on TV." Helen agreed. "I've learned a lot from my staff psychiatrist in the time he has been working for me."

Olivia glanced up from her tablet. "You are completely off the grid. I cannot find records of a Helen Magnus anywhere. How do we know you aren't just spinning a tale?"

Helen admitted it was a fair point. She knew she would eventually have to pull rank, but she had wanted to open up to them a bit herself before they were ordered to listen to her. "May I make a call?" She pulled out her cell. Stabler nodded.

It rang a few moments before he picked up. "Yes, this is Helen Magnus….Doing well, you?...Well, I'm here in New York on business, and I need the cooperation of Manhattan SVU. They are understandably a bit skeptical, do you mind?...Thank you, sir." She handed the phone to Stabler. He took it, quizzically.

"Detective Stabler…yes sir…yes sir…but, sir…yes, I understand." Stabler hung up the phone and handed it back to a smirking Helen Magnus. He looked to the other detectives.

"That was the Commissioner. To quote: 'You are to cooperate with Helen Magnus. You do what she says. You do not ask probing questions. You do not take notes. You forget that you met her when she leaves.'"

Finn looked pissed.

Olivia simply stared.

Munch looked like Hanukkah had come early this year.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reading and especially reviewing! Each review is love, so please? Oh, and I didn't properly explain in the beginning chapters, but this is set in Season 2 of the Sanctuary universe, after Haunted and before the Kali arc begins, and in Season 7ish of SVU (basically, Casey Novak is ADA and Stabler's marriage is on the rocks. That's really all that's important time-line wise.) **

Olivia was the first of the SVU detectives to regain her composure. "Okay, Ms. Magnus, so if you're in charge, which I'm not entirely sure I'm willing to accept, what is your plan?"

Helen considered it for a moment. If she thought for a second she could get away with it, she would tell them to delete the data on the murder, forget they had ever found the body laying in their morgue, and go along with their lives while she and the rest of her Sanctuary team did the job they did best. Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely that this group would go along with her idea, despite their orders from on high. They didn't have a track record for letting sleeping dogs lie, even when it meant serious trouble with US Marshalls, drug cartels, or the FBI. It looked like she was going to have to at least let them tag along for the mission. She hoped they would at least prove useful. To that end, she scrutinized each of them.

Munch was a conspiracy theory junkie. Helen had read up on his crazy ideas, and it would shock him to know both how right and how wrong he was all at the same time. He believed in government cover-ups, but was looking at Area 51 and the Kennedy Assassination. If only he knew how many historical government officials have either been abnormal or championed their cause.

Finn reminded her of Kate a little bit. Rough life, rough exterior, cycnical as hell, but would give his life for his team if the need arose. She could tell Finn didn't like her, but neither did Kate at first. He would either learn to trust her or he wouldn't, but if he did, he would be a strong ally to have on the inside in New York. She needed to make sure he learned to trust her.

Stabler. Helen wasn't sure how someone who was a Marine and then a cop could still hate taking orders. He reminded her of Nikola, in some respects. They were both unconventional, each with his unique, carefully considered set of morals that may or may not align with society as a whole. Each possessed a dogged determination to find the answer at all costs. And, as she thought to some of the SVU reports she had read, each had a willingness to set aside his own duties to protect his partner. Arrogant. Unwilling to admit when he's wrong. And quite a temper. Yes, they seemed to have quite a bit in common. She suddenly realized she had been staring at Elliott too long and flicked her gaze to Olivia.

She quickly realized that was a mistake, because apparently while she had been sizing up the other detectives, Olivia had been doing the same thing to her. Their eyes met awkwardly and Olivia quickly shifted her gaze to her partner. Helen noticed Stabler look at his partner and raise one eyebrow in question. Olivia shot him a look that Helen had no idea how to interpret.

Olivia…reminded her a little bit of herself. The female detective was an alpha female who protects everyone except herself from all the harms in the world. Helen almost wished she didn't know the things that made the woman's eyes just a little bit hollow. Of all four of them, reading Benson's jacket had felt like the biggest invasion of privacy.

No, she decided. None of them would be willing to simply let this go. Her assessment of them was completed in what was actually only a few moments.

"Well?" Benson repeated.

"I don't suppose you all would be willing to forget you ever saw me or the body?" Helen asked, halfheartedly.

"Fat chance," Elliott confirmed.

"Right then. I need to see the body to know for sure." Stabler opened his mouth to argue about regulations, remembered the phone conversation he had just had, and closed it again. "By the way, have any of you slept since you found the body?" They all looked around, guiltily. "I don't believe I need four body guards. Two of you, go catch 6, You'll need it. Come back here, relieve the other two, then in 12 hours we go to work in earnest."

Stabler and Benson waved Munch and Finn off to get some shuteye and the three headed to the morgue.

Warner had already met Helen Magnus, but didn't let it show to Benson and Stabler. She had seen some pretty wild things as both a coroner and public health official—a few of them wild enough that Magnus had showed up for clean up duty. She shuddered to think of what Magnus could be hunting this time, if it had killed the woman lying on her exam table.

Magnus barely had to look at the body to confirm her worst suspicions. It was White Chapel, all over again. All her hard-learned resolve started to shatter. When she looked at the woman laying on the table, she saw the faces of each of the five original victims, and she saw the look on John's face as he pinned her to the wall of her own study, threatening her with his blade while trying to proclaim his innocence. She saw John when he woke up in the Sanctuary just a few weeks earlier, finally free of the energy creature that had tormented him for over a century. And she saw the look of anguish on his face when he let the creature reclaim his body in order to save the Sanctuary. She saw the entire thing as a cycle about to begin anew, and in that moment she wasn't sure she had the strength to go through it again.

"It was him," She told Warner, then turned and walked out of the room.

Olivia and Elliott exchanged a look, trying to decide who would follow her. Warner interrupted their silent conversation, though. "Give her a minute you too. She looks like she needs it."

They decided to take advantage of the woman's absence. "Liv, what was that in the interrogation room earlier?" Elliott asked her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Olivia told him stubbornly.

"Right," He let the subject drop for now, deciding instead to go see if Magnus was okay.

She was a few meters down the hallway, leaning against the wall with her hands clasped behind her neck, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes were closed again, and it looked like she was fighting tears.

Stabler considered her for a moment. He wasn't sure if he should treat her like he would a victim or a colleague. At this point, he wasn't entirely sure which she was. Maybe both, he mused.

He walked up to her and claimed his own spot on the wall next to her, just standing there quietly.

After a few moments, Helen turned to him. "Are you going to say anything or just stand there?" She sounded like she wanted to snap but just didn't have the energy.

He smiled. "You don't seem like the type of person who talks about things. So I'm just going to stand here so that you know you aren't standing here alone."

They stood in companionable silence for a few minutes while Helen sorted out her thoughts.

Finally, Stabler spoke the obvious. "You know the killer."

"Well, obviously, or I wouldn't be here."

"That isn't what I meant. You _know _the killer. Personally. You don't seem like the type of person to be this rattled just by a dead body."

Helen straightened and glared. "You don't know the first thing about me. Who are you to tell me what kind of a person I am?"

"I'm a good judge of character. People who are freaked out by dead bodies don't usually carry unidentifiable concealed weapons around on a daily basis." She sighed, admitting a measure of defeat.

"You're right. I do know him." An unwanted tear rolled down her cheek and she pushed it way furiously. She went to return her hands to their previous position supporting her neck, but Elliott grabbed one and turned her to look at him.

"Who is it?" He asked. He could tell from the anguish in this woman's eyes that the truth cut deep.

"It doesn't matter." She told him, pulling her hand away and composing herself. "Knowing who he is will not help us catch him," she added matter-of-factly.

"I don't know, I find it easier to serve a search warrant when I have a name," he explained. Helen laughed bitterly. They heard the exam room door open and Olivia silently joined them.

"You can't serve a search warrant on a ghost," Helen explained.

"There's no such thing as ghosts, Magnus."

"Maybe not in your world."

"A name, Helen," he insisted.

"You really do remind me of Nikola," she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Never mind. You really want a name? Here's a name: John Druitt." She spat.

Elliott stared, knowing he should recognize that name. Olivia's face lit up with recognition almost instantly, though. "Montague John Druitt was one of the suspects in the original Ripper killings. He killed himself almost 150 years ago,"

"No. John Druitt is still alive."

The two detectives stared at her with expressions Helen knew well.

"I'm not crazy. I told you—I work on the fringes of science."

"Are we going to get any more of an explanation than that?" Olivia asked cautiously, not entirely sure she wanted to know.

"I think the less you know, the safer you will be. There is—there is something I would prefer to conceal, but for your safety you need to know."

"We're listening," Elliott encouraged.

"John has certain..abilities…that make him impossible to trace, and even harder to catch." She took a breath and then looked each of the two detectives in the eye. "He has the ability to teleport to and from anywhere on the globe."

Olivia wasn't sure she had heard right. She replayed the sentence over in her mind to make sure she wasn't hearing things, but it sounded the same the second time around. Part of her was screaming that this was impossible. That they were wasting their time on a crazy woman. That they should refer Helen Magnus to Belleview. The other part of her thrilled at the idea that there is really no such thing as impossible. She wasn't sure which part would ultimately win, but she was willing to see this through long enough to get positive confirmation either way.

She looked to her partner and saw a look on his face that she easily recognized as disbelief. He wasn't buying a word of Magnus's story about 150 year-old teleporting serial killers, and who could blame him? There was something else, though, as he stared at the British woman who was clearly gauging their reactions. Was it…desire? Did he _want_ to believe that all of this was possible? And did he want to believe it for the sake of the impossible, or so that the impossibly beautiful woman in front of them wouldn't be proven a liar or a lunatic.

Olivia didn't know. And if she couldn't decipher Elliott's motivations, it was unlikely he could, either.

This was going to be a case for the books. Too bad no one would ever read about it.


	5. Was it worth it, Helen?

**A/N: The next update may take a week or so-finals and all that. Wish me luck, and review! **

The buzzing phone broke the awkward silence between the three people standing in the hallway outside of the city morgue.

Elliott was jolted from his shocked disbelief at Helen Magnus's explanation of his murder suspect's age and apparent special abilities. "Stabler," he barked. "Right…we'll be right there." He flipped his phone shut and turned to his partner. "We need to get downtown. They just found another body."

"Bloody hell. I'm coming with you," Helen informed them. Stabler rolled his eyes.

"Of course you are. I wouldn't have it any other way."

By the time the detectives and Magnus arrived on scene, a crowd was already starting to gather. The MO from the first victim had not been leaked to the press, but since Guilliani's crackdown on violent crime, murder was just uncommon enough that any dead body drew at least a small crowd.

Munch and Finn were there, too. So much for six hours of sleep.

"You have to see this!" Munch called and waved them over.

"The dead body? Yeah, that's what we came for," Stabler quipped, not oblivious to the irony that he was joking about the body of a young woman slashed to death in an alley.

"No. This." Munch pointed to the brick wall of the building that faced into the alley. In neat, cursive handwriting someone had written "Was it worth it, Helen?" In blood.

"Magnus!" Stabler called her over to where the three detectives stood. "Can you explain this?" he demanded. She saw the handwriting and paled. "What did you do to piss this guy off?" he asked.

She snorted. "How much time do you have?"

"Hey, did anyone else see that?" Finn asked, pointing around the back corner of the alley.

"See what?" Munch asked. "You're jumpy—the area has already been sealed off."

"Yeah, well I saw a shadow moving, so it must not be all that sealed." Helen quietly moved away from the group down the alley. Guessing what she was thinking, Olivia followed her for backup. As she got to the end of the block, Helen saw the edge of a shadow cast on the wall by streetlights.

"John," she called, trying to keep her voice calm. "Come, let's talk about this." Someone answered, but the voice wasn't one she had been expecting.

"Come now, Helen. You've called me a lot of insulting things over the years, but 'John' just might be the cruelest. Just shoot me again—it would hurt less." The man stepped out of the shadows with a grin. Helen rolled her eyes.

"Nikola Tesla. What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. For years I tried to get you to visit me in New York City, but you refused. But when Johnny calls you come running…."

"Why you stupid, arrogant v-" Helen stopped herself, realizing that not only was her friend no longer a vampire but that she also didn't want to reveal the fact that he had ever been one to the detective standing behind her. Nikola caught what she was about to say and smiled wistfully.

"Unfortunately, Helen, my glory days have ended and I am now just stupid and arrogant," he quipped.

"Shut up. And if you won't do that, at least tell me how you knew."

"It's really quite simple. I came back to the Sanctuary to drown my sorrows in your wine cellar and Dr. Expendable told me where you were and why. Once I got here, I just started listening in on radio traffic until I heard your detectives get called to the scene."

"I don't suppose you saw John?"

"No, and I'd rather not. I know we had a temporary truce for awhile—exemption pending global crisis and all that—but now that all bets are off again I would prefer to stay as far as possible from dear old Johnny. Especially since I seem to be lacking my previous advantages." The last sentence was quite pointedly aimed at Helen, a fact that she chose to ignore.

"Yes, well, that brings me back to my original question which you never answered: What are you doing here? You've said yourself that you lack your previous advantage in this fight."

"Yes, well, it is an advantage that you never had, and it doesn't stop you from running into danger at every opportunity. I…" He trailed off, looking sheepish.

"Out with it, Nikola,"

"I was worried about you, okay. This isn't just any monster hunt. And while the amount of time I would have to live without you would is significantly shorter now, I would prefer it not come to that." He shot her a hesitant smile and looked away nervously.

"So you are back on that again," Helen observed, referring to Nikola's previous declaration of love in Rome. Right before he tried to kill her. "Well, I'm not going to say I couldn't use the help."

Olivia had listened to this entire exchange silently, growing more rather than less confused. "We agreed to work with _you_," she addressed Helen, "Strange men in dark alleys were not part of the bargain."

For the first time, Nikola noticed the detective. "And who is this?" he asked, turning his charm on full blast, moving forward to kiss her hand. Helen intervened, stopping Nikola before he got himself punched or worse, shot.

"This is Detective Olivia Benson with the Manhattan SVU. She and her partner are working this case." Nikola's eyes grew wide and he smirked. Helen braced herself.

"A detective? So I'm guessing you carry handcuffs?" He looked at the woman suggestively, wagging his eyebrows. Helen couldn't help but burst out laughing, as Olivia looked like she wanted to show Tesla the business end of her firearm.

"It is okay, Detective Benson," Helen said through tears of laughter, "The desire to shoot him is entirely natural. He is a bit of an acquired taste, but can be quite useful, I assure you."

Nikola looked put out, but before he could begin to rant, the other three detectives joined the group. Helen decided to make formal introductions.

"Have you filled Munch and Finn in on what we discussed at the morgue?" She asked Stabler, who nodded hesitantly.

"I think you're crazy, just for the record." Finn told her.

"I believe you. I always knew that the government was covering up some incredible things out there, but I—" Munch was cut off by Finn's glare.

"Alright, everyone. Nikola, you have already met Olivia Benson, and this is Detectives Elliott Stabler, Finn Tutuola, and John Munch. This is Nikola Tesla, a sometimes colleague and general pain in the ass," Helen introduced, good naturedly.

"Nikola Tesla? Like the scientist?" Munch asked.

Tesla grinned. "Very much so."

"He is being somewhat modest, as much as I hate to admit it," Helen told the group. "He is not just named after the famous scientist…."

"He's THE Nikola Tesla? No way. I always thought history cheated him in favor of Edison—" This time Munch was cut off by Helen.

"Please, don't. His ego doesn't need any more stroking, and if you get him started on Edison we will get nothing accomplished tonight." Even so, Nikola was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Now, the message left by the body. Obviously, it was intended for me. I just can't decide what he is referring to."

"What message?" Tesla asked. They all walked back to the crime scene so that he could see the message in blood by the body. "Was it worth it? Helen, is he talking about the sou—" She cut him off with a Look.

"I don't know if he is talking about that or what happened last month. I assume you heard about it?"

"Yes," He said sadly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that again, Helen." She shook his words off.

"I really think he is talking about the former, but I think the meaning of his message is less important than the fact that he knows I am hunting him. Or at least that if I wasn't before, the message would find its way to me, at which point I would begin the hunt."

"How are we ever going to catch him, though? Teleportation, remember?" Tesla asked.

"He wants caught," Stabler said, softly. Everyone turned and looked at him, surprised.

"Look, I don't know if I buy all this crap about teleporting and people living to be 150. But he didn't even try to hide the bodies, and he clearly knows how to get Magnus's attention. He leaves no trace physical evidence, so I think he is good enough to avoid capture if it was what he wanted. Clearly, it isn't."

"Elliott is right," Helen said. "He wants found. By me. I think he is gone for tonight, but sundown tomorrow I am going to be out here, waiting. He will find me."

"Not by yourself!" At least three people said, simultaneously, including Nikola. Helen considered it. Any of the four men would probably only infuriate him and make him more likely to hurt someone or evade capture.

"Okay. If you insist one of you come, it should be Olivia. A woman would be safest."

"All evidence to the contrary," Finn said, looking at the slashed body being loaded by CSU into a black bag.

"It's complicated." Helen didn't want to explain why John would be less threatened by a woman. Unfortunately, Tesla filled in the blanks for her.

"Helen is just afraid that if Druitt sees her with another man he will fly into an even more murderous rage. It has happened before. It took me a few weeks to recover." He hurt at the memory.

"Nikola!" Helen admonished too late. The damage had been done. Stabler looked at her, knowingly.

"I knew it." He told her.

"Yes, you're very smart," She shot back at the detective. "We were engaged a very long time ago. It obviously didn't work out."

"Yeah, finding out that your fiancé is a 100 year old serial killer would put a damper on the relationship," Munch observed.

Tesla shot Magnus a look that he hoped conveyed "They don't know?" She barely shook her head "No."

"Okay, everyone. Tomorrow is going to be a long night, and you have all been at this for days. Go get some sleep and meet me back here at 1900," Helen instructed them.

"I thought we weren't wanted?" Stabler asked.

"Well, you will be in the vicinity for backup, obviously. We will stay in radio contact after Olivia and I split away from you. Now, everyone go sleep." Everyone willingly scattered except for Tesla and Olivia.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Olivia asked.

"Yes. I have an office here," Helen explained, telling yet another half-truth. "You should really go get some sleep."

"I'm too pissed to sleep," Olivia explained. "I don't like not having all the answers." Helen and Nikola exchanged glances.

"Would you like a few more? Answers, that is." Helen offered. "I could give you a tour of my facilities here, if you promise to keep what you see confidential."

"You are offering me a chance to see what you _really_ do? Hell, yes!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Nikola asked.

"Of course it is," Helen grinned. "Where is your sense of adventure? Come on, my head of house knows to expect us."

The three walked off in the night towards the New York Sanctuary, each deep in their own thoughts.


	6. Well, that clears that up

**A/N: This is short and fluffy and really does nothing to further the plot, but I wanted a break between taking a final and studying for my next one, and I think this was a fun distraction. Reviews are love! **

The New York City Sanctuary was vastly different from its counterpart in Old City. Yes, it served the same function and had similar security systems and housing units, but that is where the similarities ended. While the Old City Sanctuary reflected Helen's fondness for the Victorian period, this sanctuary reflected the utilitarian, practical structure and design of most Manhattan office buildings. It was located underground, which isn't uncommon in the city. The average 40-story building has at least 3 or 4 floors underground to ensure structural integrity. Above it was office space that housed businesses that were familiar with and generous in supporting the sanctuary network, as well as apartments that house the sanctuary staff. The entire operation blended in well with the business district surrounding it.

Olivia had walked by this building a hundred times and never thought twice about it. The beauty of placing a Sanctuary in the city is that no one would really notice. The abnormal is commonplace, so no one really pays attention to what is surrounding them.

Helen swiped their little group into the building with a key card. It looked like the lobby of any other office building. Helen led them to an elevator and hit B4. When the doors opened, they were greeted by the head of house.

"You didn't need to wait up for me," Helen chided. "I told you I would be out late."

"It was no trouble, Helen. Besides, I wanted to welcome your guests. Mr. Tesla," the man nodded in acknowledgement then turned his head toward Olivia. "And Olivia Benson. It is so nice to finally meet you."

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Olivia asked, confused.

"No, but I know you. I'm sorry to say that my job requires I follow city crime quite closely."

Not for the first time Olivia turned to Helen and asked "What EXACTLY do you do?"

"I work with what we call Abnormals," she finally explained. "Humans or other creatures with unique skills that require their protection from society—and sometimes society's protection from them,"

"So…monsters?"

Helen laughed lightly. "We don't use the M word. Most of these creatures are every bit as intelligent as you and I if not more so. Some of them have been alive longer than you can imagine and they are vital to the survival of our ecosystem. Yet if society knew they existed they would be hunted down and killed or exploited."

"So, you keep them here? In New York City? Couldn't you find a less populous area?" As if Olivia's job wasn't already difficult enough.

"I am the leader of a network of Sanctuaries across the globe. This is only one of them. And it makes sense to have one here, if you think about it. Many Abnormals try to seek refuge in large cities because they have a better chance of blending in with the 'normal' freaks of society."

"You have a point," Olivia admitted. "Sometimes I feel like a monster hunter, myself."

"I don't envy you," Helen admitted. "I much prefer my job." They had been walking down a corridor and arrived at a large, sealed blast-proof door. Helen stopped and turned to look at Olivia. "This is our Secure Housing Unit, or SHU. Some of our more dangerous species are housed here, but we will be perfectly safe. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Let's do this. Hey, where's Tesla?" Olivia added, realizing that the last member of their party had disappeared.

"Probably off to find a bottle of wine. He had the guided tour ages ago." Helen raised her palm to a security pad and they were clicked through.

The door opened to a room much like the SHU at the Old City Sanctuary. It was an open area lined with rooms of glass enclosures filled with a variety of habitats for the Abnormals they housed. Olivia gasped. "How is this possible?"

"There are a great many things that none of us understand about the world around us. Even I am constantly learning and I've been studying Abnormals for—" Helen had almost slipped and said 'over 100 years.' "—my entire life," she finished.

Olivia glared at her sharply, having caught Helen's near-slip. "And exactly how long has that been?"

Helen smiled mysteriously. "I'm older than you."

"That's all the answer I'm getting, isn't it?"

"For now. Come, I'll show you around."

Helen and Olivia walked the length of the enclosures, Helen explaining the different species as Olivia tried to keep her eyes in her head. Near the end of the walk, Olivia asked, "None of these, Abnormals, as you call them, look close to human. How could they not be noticed?"

"They would be. That is why they are here, for protection. Many other Abnormals are humans born with unique gifts. They may spend some time with us training their skills, learning how to control them, but they eventually reenter society."

"Are you an Abnormal?" Olivia asked, bluntly.

"I was not born with any gifts." Olivia didn't miss the fact that Helen had not answered her question but chose to ignore it, switching tactics.

"What about Druitt? Was he born with his skills?" Helen ignored the question.

"You should get some sleep. There are guest quarters if you would like to stay here. We are rendezvousing with the others in 8 hours." Olivia readily agreed. Helen showed her upstairs to guest quarters before heading off in search of Nikola. There was no way she was sleeping tonight. This was one of many times she was grateful for ability to work on little to no sleep.

As she expected, Helen found him in the main living quarters with a bottle of wine, sprawled comfortably on a large sofa. She smiled as she sat down next to him and filled a second glass. "Some things never change."

He looked at her strangely. "Don't they?" he asked, cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know, Helen."

"I'm sure I don't, Nikola. And I'm far too tired for guessing games. Just say it," she pleaded.

"Are you planning on taking a second protégé?" He asked by way of an answer, arching one eyebrow.

Helen's face flashed from confused, to surprised, to annoyed in a matter of seconds. She rolled her eyes. "Really, Nikola? Is your mind ever anywhere but in the gutter?"

"You wouldn't know it if yours didn't live there as well," he retorted.

"I have known you for over 100 years, Nikola, I think I know your mind by now," she grinned.

"So you're going to throw that back at me?"

"At every opportunity. And, Nikola, for the record, no."

"No, what?" he prodded.

Helen let out an exaggerated sigh. "You are hopeless. No, I am not interested in Detective Benson as anything other than another potential inside link to NYPD."

Nikola's face fell. "But I was so hoping—"

"DON'T finish that sentence if you ever hope to see the inside of my wine cellar again," Helen threatened with a smile.

"Okay fine. But would you ever? _Have _you ever?" he pleaded.

Helen grinned. "While I'm sure you know I am nothing if not open-minded…no," she finished.

"It's because you are hopelessly in love with me and too stubborn to admit it." He stated like it was a foregone conclusion.

Helen took a sip of wine to try to cover that smile that she knew he would see right through.


	7. Case Closed?

Helen was part of a group of five again. She stood on a street in Hell's Kitchen with Nikola, Olivia Benson, Elliott Stabler, and John Munch. Detective Finn had been called away on another case, much to his relief. She smiled at the irony that, although this group could never replace what she had with The Five, it definitely held potential.

"Helen, I don't like this," Nikola protested, turning to face her. "He could kill you."

Helen rolled her eyes. "Yes, he could. But he could have killed me at any point over the last several days and didn't. I have to believe that he wants me alive."

"Actually, I like the idea of him wanting you alive even less," he observed with a bit of a shudder. Helen had no quick retort for that; she cringed, then squashed the memories threatening to float to the surface.

"So, how are we going to capture the teleporting serial killer?" Stabler asked. He still didn't entirely believe all of this, but Olivia seemed very convinced, and she generally had a solid head on her shoulders. It gave him reason to pause, if nothing else.

Helen and Nikola exchanged a dubious look. "Well…" Helen started. All eyes were pinned to her. "We very likely can't."

"What, surely you don't think you can simply talk sense into him?" Munch asked, incredulously.

Tesla chuckled dryly. "No," Helen retorted, "Believe me, I've tried that route a number of times in the past."

"Do tell…" Nikola prompted.

"Well, you know John—the word 'failure' comes to mind," Helen admitted. "Unfortunately, because of his energy creature, I don't think we could keep him sedated long enough to get him to a secure facility. I only see one option and that is to-" she stilled when she heard a faint crackle behind her. Nikola heard it as well and spun around to find himself face-to-face with Druitt.

"Kill me?" John finished her sentence, danger in his voice. "Helen, it would be most unwise of you to attempt such a thing, especially with so many bystanders who could be injured in the crossfire," His comment was clearly aimed at Nikola, who gave a valiant sneer in response. Helen kept her back to him for the moment, trying to think of a way to handle this. She had not expected so many of the others to be present when John appeared.

"I was unaware that you cared what happened to innocent people," she noted.

"Oh, the people I kill are far from innocent," he mused. "Those women out on the street, whoring themselves, selling their bodies to any man who is willing. Not unlike a woman I know quite well," He taunted. He vanished and reappeared dangerously close behind Elliott, who had been frozen in place and wide-eyed since Druitt had materialized. Stabler now found himself with a knife to his throat. "Who is this? Your newest conquest? You've already slept your way through The Five, so you decided to look for fresh meat?" Helen wanted to close her eyes and wake up to find the nightmare over. She didn't dare try to correct him. What was she supposed to say? That he was wrong—she had never slept with Nigel. Yes, because that would calm him down tremendously. She decided against her better judgment to try to goad him away from Stabler.

"You aren't going to kill him," she taunted. "Men aren't your style. You can't control them like you do women. And you have always had to be the one in control." John glared at her but held his ground. She suddenly got an idea from an old SVU case file she had read. "Or maybe I'm wrong," she mused. "Maybe you victimize women because you hate them. And if you hate women, that means you must like men. It must have been difficult for you so long ago, before it was socially acceptable. Although it would explain why you were such good friends with Oscar Wilde."

Helen had known John for two lifetimes, and she wasn't the least bit surprised when he shoved Stabler to the ground. Before she could pull her gun, however, Druitt had taken hostage the woman who had been standing beside Stabler. Olivia. "You know, you're quite right Helen," John cooed. "Killing men isn't my style; I've never had a taste for it. This _lady"_ he sneered the last word "this lady on the other hand is much more my taste." Helen shot Olivia a glance, hoping her eyes told the detective not to try to fight him. Getting John to back off Elliott was a bad idea. Stabler had been reasonably safe; Olivia was in very real danger.

"John, it isn't Olivia that you want," she reminded him, speaking softly. "It's me, it has always been me."

"I wanted you," he corrected. "Why would I want you now? Now that you are used and broken and just like any other woman." Helen wished his words didn't sting. She tried to remind herself that this wasn't the John she had fallen in love with.

"You bastard!" Helen half expected to hear Nikola's voice defending her honor, but it wasn't. "If she is broken it's because YOU broke her. You think you are something special, some arch-villain of legend. I have news for you: we hunt down men like you every day. You may be able to teleport, but your rage, your hatred, the way you use and discard women—none of it is unique. You punish women that you think are trash, but have you looked in the mirror lately?" Helen had to give Munch points for bravery. His outburst was so unexpected that it distracted Druitt long enough for Helen to reach her gun.

The next second stretched out like minutes. Helen drew her gun on John, who was focused on glaring at Munch. Olivia was still in his grasp with a knife tight against her throat. If Helen missed, she could hit Olivia. If she didn't miss, John could still kill her before he hit the ground or teleported. Or, she could do nothing and Olivia could die anyway. Faced with a load of equally horrible options, she made the briefest of eye contact with Olivia, seeking permission to do what she thought was best. The detective mouthed "do it" and Helen aimed just as John turned his attention back to Helen. In the split second between when he saw her and when his arm tensed to kill his hostage, Helen fired. Blood splattered everywhere, and Olivia fell to the ground as Druitt vanished.

The others made way as Helen rushed to check on Olivia. She suppressed everything that had just happened and went into "doctor mode."

"I'm alright," Olivia assured her, getting to her feet. "It wasn't my blood—you must have gotten in a pretty good shot."

"Helen doesn't miss. Trust me," Nikola assured the detective as he put his arm around Helen. "You okay?" he asked his oldest friend. She didn't answer, but leaned into him.

"Do we have any idea if he survived?" Stabler asked cautiously.

"He was alive when he teleported, but his survival after that point is anyone's guess, I'm afraid." Helen explained. "He could be in India. Or dead. Or three blocks down. We won't know until he surfaces again."

"So what do we do about our cases?" Munch asked.

"Do you remember when One P.P. told you to listen to me and do exactly as I instructed?"

"Yes…"

"Go to the morgue. Ask Warner for the information on some lowlife who was brought in dead tonight. There has to be at least one. Name him as the killer. Close the case."

Munch grinned. "A government cover-up."

"In a manner of speaking, yes. No one with the police department would push for a resolution to the case, but at least you will be able to provide a false sense of closure to the victim's families this way." In answer to their unspoken question, she continued. "I doubt very much even if John is alive that he will come back here in this lifetime. If he were to come back, however, your superiors know how to contact me."

"So I guess you're going back to wherever you came from," Stabler said wistfully. The man looked a little bit like he wished John's accusations had been true.

"Yes, I have been away from my Sanctuary long enough. And you should go home to your family," she told him pointedly. "You have been away from _them_ long enough." Stabler looked startled.

"How did you know about my family?" he asked, as if her knowledge of his problems at home were the most exceptional thing he had seen or heard that night.

"She's Helen Magnus," Tesla explained for her. "She knows everything."

* * *

_Two months later_

Tesla was in some dive bar in Columbia, trying to gather intelligence about an old Cabal laboratory in the middle of the wilderness. New York had convinced him that he needed his vampirism back. He had been completely unable to protect Helen and that was unacceptable. He would never admit how much she meant to him, although he knew she knew. And he knew that she felt the same way. It was just not something they talked about. He suspected it would take much more than the rest of a traditional human lifespan for them to iron out the convoluted mess that was their relationship, and he intended to have available to him all the time he needed.

He heard footsteps coming up from behind him and turned, expecting to see his contact.

"Really?" he said with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief. The footsteps belonged to a very-much-alive John Druitt.

"I need your help," John explained.

"You're funny," Tesla said dryly.

"The only chance I ever have to win Helen back is if whatever…creature…that possesses me can be safely excised. I think you can do it."

"And the funny keeps on coming."

"I know you want her for yourself, I'm not blind," John sneered. "But I can make you an offer you can't refuse."

"I doubt that," Nikola countered. "She is the most important thing in my world. I don't know what you could offer to top that."

John pulled out a knife and grinned. "How about your life?"

* * *

_Yet another month later_

"How are you still alive?" Helen demanded, glaring at Adam Worth.

"He really didn't tell you?" Worth asked Helen in disbelief. "Good lad. So he carved up a few whores. We all have our quirks…"

"You're talking about Druitt," Will realized.

"Score one for the concubine!" He turned to look at Magnus. "Helen, if you want answers, you have to talk to old Johnny." Helen cringed. The last time she saw John, she had shot him. He hadn't been seen or heard from since.

"I can't," she said softly.

"Helen…" Worth urged.

"I don't know where he is," she explained. "He could be dead for all we know."

Tesla took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. "Ummm, actually…" he started.

"Oh, what have you done…" Worth asked with a little bit of glee.

Helen turned to him, shocked. After all, Nikola had been there for the entire ordeal in New York. "Nikola…"

"You know where he is," Will accused.

Tesla knew Helen wasn't going to like this. Not even a little. He had deliberately not told her about his encounter with John because she had seemed so at peace with the idea of his death. Besides, his attempt to excise the energy creature had failed. Why bother hurting her further?

He finally sheepishly admitted the truth: "Kinda…"

He was glad Helen didn't have a gun on her at the moment.

* * *

**The end. I had always intended for this to fit into canon, although Tashah2109 is currently writing a Druitt fic that made me seriously consider rewriting the ending just so I could find a painful way to kill him….**


End file.
